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Scholars

Arianne Aslamy, MD, PhD, is a second year CSMC Endocrinology Fellow, who completed her MD/PhD at Indiana University and Internal Medicine residency at CSMC. During her PhD she discovered  a key role for Doc2b in protection of beta cells against apoptosis. She is now engaged in geroscience mentored research in the CSMC Center on Aging and Diabetes with her primary mentor, Nicolas Musi, MD (RC2 co-lead), building upon her previous research experiences in molecular biology. Her long-term career goal is to become an independent investigator in the fields of geroscience and metabolism.

Project Title: Molecular mapping of adipose cellular populations and senescent cells in aging and obesity.

Paula Barreras, MD, is Assistant Professor of Medicine at CSMC. She completed her medical degree at Universidad de los Andes School of Medicine, Bogotá, Colombia, and her Neurology residency and a fellowship in Clinical Neuroimmunology and Neuroinfectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins. Her long-term career goal is to become an independent clinician scientist focused on understanding the risks and predictors of long-term outcomes in inflammatory myelopathies including aging. Also, she seeks to identify novel biomarkers that aid in diagnosis and prognosis, and to integrate findings to develop strategies for risk modification. 

Project title: Role of biological aging in spinal cord reserve in inflammatory myelopathies.

Minori Ohashi, MD, PhD, is an Instructor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics at UCLA. A dual-trained geriatrician and stem cell biologist, she completed her MD and PhD in molecular biology through the UCLA-Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at UCLA and joined the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) program in 2023. Her long-term research interests are to understand the molecular basis of aging and to develop interventions that reverse cellular aging and promote healthy longevity. 

Project Title: The distinctive role of skeletal muscle resident macrophages in a stem cell niche.

Hiroshi Kumagai, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC School of Gerontology. He received his PhD in Health and Sports Sciences at University of Tsukuba, Japan, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Biology of Aging at USC. His long-term objective is to direct an independently funded research program devoted to the development of biomarkers that predict risk for aging-associated diseases and surrogate indicators that predict and monitor responses to lifestyle interventions in older adults.  

Project Title: Mito-derived microproteins to predict response to lifestyle interventions.